Senate Democratic Leadership Will Pass Health Care Reform “By Any Legislative Means Necessary”

ABCnews.com - Political Punch ^ | 08/19/09 | Jake Tapper

[OldDeckHand]

Amidst questions of whether or not any Senate Republicans will support a health care reform bill, Jim Manley, spokesman for Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., today said that the “White House and the Senate Democratic leadership still prefer a bipartisan bill.”

The Reid spokesman said that “neither the White House nor the leadership have made a decision to pursue reconciliation,” the somewhat controversial legislative process by which a bill is introduced in such a manner so that it requires merely 50 votes instead of 60 to proceed to a vote, thus removing the threat of filibuster.

Manley said that “we will not make a decision to pursue reconciliation until we have exhausted efforts to produce a bipartisan bill.”

“However,” he cautioned, “patience is not unlimited and we are determined to get something done this year by any legislative means necessary.”

“By any means necessary” is a phrase popularized by Malcolm X (demanding the rights of African-Americans to be respected in society), though it is thought to have originally been penned by French existentialist Jean Paul Sartre in his play about assassination “Dirty Hands” (in a line demanding the end of class).

[mware]

I am not sure but I think it is after the fact.

[Technical Editor]

[mware]

I wish Jimmy Stewart was still around, he would go into his stuttering mode and they would never get the bill off the floor.

[OldDeckHand]

"Also...be prepared...if they do this with Obamacare, they’ll do it with amnesty too."

I could be wrong, but I believe "immigration reform" that contains ANY kind of amnesty is dead so long as unemployment is in the double digits. There will be no appetite to address this issue, which is why it's all but completely disappeared from public discussion.

[sand lake bar]

We should also try to stop Reid and his fellow thugs “by any means necessary.”

[reefdiver]

If this was so great, that REGULAR AMERICANS would embrace it regardless of what they thought of it right now, the Socialist would be proud to do it themselves. By the way REGULAR AMERICANS would like to see that birth certificate if the socialist have the time

[This_far]

"By any means necessary"

Will you sign up your entire family for the plan in order for it to pass?

Will you resign from politics in order for it to pass?

Yeah...didn't think so, thanks for playing.

[bustinchops]

I can see Snowe, Collins and a couple others siding with the rats.

It’s not impossible that they will, and Dingy Harry may be hinting that he’s got it just by making the announcement.

[Heartlander2]

Agreed. Once they pull that rabbit out of the hat, and they do it successfully, they will want to do that trick again and again.

[Talisker]

“However,” he cautioned, “patience is not unlimited...

Ah, it's so refreshing when totalitarian bastards let their guard down for a moment. There's nothing like seeing their clenched fists in the sunshine.

[bamahead]

That’s assuming we actually have elections in 2010. Don’t put anything past these Marxists.

[sand lake bar]

“Go ahead Harry we will be waiting with the tar & feathers when you walk out of the Senate building”

I suggest doing it before he walks in.

[unixfox]

Arrogance will be the downfall of these fools.

[prairiebreeze]

Remember when we all wanted Frist and the Pubs to go nuclear on the RATS a couple of years ago? (I forget the exact issue at the moment)

Anyway, the Pubs hemmed and hawwed and we ended up with the Gang of 14.

Thanks McCain. Thanks Graham. Thanks Frist.

(not!)

[JamesA]

They might remember, every action has an equil and opposite reaction.

[boxerblues]

I suggest doing it before he walks in.

---

Have to wait until after he votes, but it would be nice to see the look on his face as he walked in to see buckets of tar waiting for him :)

[Brookhaven]

I’m thinking this is a bluff to get some Republican on board.

Either work with us (so you can get SOME of your ideas into the plan) or we’ll pass it without you and you won’t have any input.

Waiting on the two Maine senators to buckle any minute to say “we thought it would be better to have some input than none at all.”

Horse hocky - it’s a bluff. If they ram this kind of major change though without even the support of all the Dems, the Democrats will get creamed in the 2010 elections.

[savedbygrace]

The nuclear option and reconciliation are two different legislative actions.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reconciliation_(U.S._Congress)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nuclear_option

[Armedanddangerous]

I dont put it past the leftists to try that.

[bcsco]

My point was that the Dems don't need GOP votes to overturn a filibuster. So it has nothing to do with GOP opposition, and EVERYTHING to do with recalcitrant Dems.

True. My point was that those recalcitrant Dems may not be as recalcitrant as made out to be.

There could well be defections in either House. But that could also as well cut both ways. In the Senate I suspect Snowe and Collins to be the weakest links.